Keeping It In the Family: Tapit Reigns in Belmont Entries

Tapit
The final leg of the U.S. Triple Crown is upon us with 10 runners taking their place in the Belmont Stakes with many familiar faces. Tapit again reigns supreme in the entries as the sire with the most runners while three sires who currently stand internationally are also representing their current countries.

Without further ado, here are some useful facts about the Belmont Stakes runners.

Birthdays: While both the Kentucky and Epsom Derby winners were born in May, the odds are stacked against that month in this classic. Of the 10 horses entered, only one was born in May – that being Grade 3 Peter Pan third Intrepid Heart (Tapit). Six of the 10 entries were born in February with February 12th birthday boy Joevia (Shanghai Bobby) the oldest by six days over Spinoff (Hard Spun). March has no representatives with the other three runners all born in April.

The first two legs of this Triple Crown were won by horses born on May 8 (Country House) and April 17 (War Front).

International Sires: Of the 10 runners, three are sired by stallions currently standing outside the United States. Only Master Fencer was conceived in another country, however, with Just a Way (Heart’s Cry) standing in Japan for his whole career. Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) was sold to South Korea at the end of 2016 when Everfast was a weanling and Shanghai Bobby (Harlan’s Holiday) relocated to Japan for the 2019 breeding season.

Sir Winston
Fresh Horses: Only three of the 10 horse in the Belmont Stakes haven’t run in a Triple Crown race this year. Joevia is coming into the race off a win in the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park on May 12, Intrepid Heart finished third in the Peter Pan that same day, and Sir Winston was an impressive second in that race.

Of those who have run in the Triple Crown, three last ran in the Preakness Stakes three weeks ago while four of them ran in the Kentucky Derby five weeks ago. War Of Will (War Front) is the best finisher of the Triple Crown runners with a Preakness victory while Tacitus (Tapit) is the best of the Kentucky Derby finishers. War Of Will is the only horse to contest all three legs of this year’s Triple Crown.

Tapit: Tapit has proved to be King of the Belmont Stakes over the past five years with three winners of the race (2014, 2016, 2017). The stallion's results also include a second by Frosted to American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in 2015, a 1st-3rd finish in 2016 with Creator and Lani, and a third-place finish with Hofburg in 2018. Not surprisingly, he is well represented in this edition with nearly a third of the field. Tacitus leads the way as the morning line favorite with War of Will and Intrepid Heart also running in the race.

Between his grandson and son Take Charge Indy, A.P. Indy’s sireline is responsible for four of the 10 runners in the race. A.P. Indy has been well represented in this year’s Triple Crown races with seven Triple Crown runners by stallions from his sireline and six others out of mares by stallions from his sireline to give him 13 of the 32 runners (40.63 percent). The best of his results were a pair of thirds from Tacitus in the Kentucky Derby and Owendale (Into Mischief) in the Preakness.

War Front
Stud Fees: The average stud fees of the five stallions who had advertised fees in both 2015 and 2019 is $113,866, up 7.14 percent from the $106,279 they stood for in 2015. The highest of those fees is War Front (Danzig), who has seen an increase of 66.67 percent over the past four years from $150,000 to $250,000. Tapit stood for the highest fee in 2015 at $300,000, which was lowered to $225,000 this year. He is the only one to see a lowered fee compared to 2015 with Shanghai Bobby’s stud fee of 2 million yen roughly US$18,450 on the current exchange after standing for $15,000 in the United States in 2015 and Just a Way standing for 4 million yen (approx. $35,881), up from 3 million ($31,396) in 2015.

The average 2019 stud fees for the stallions is up considerably from the $68,183 of the Kentucky Derby and up slightly from the $110,125 of the Preakness. It should be taken into account however that 14 different sires in the Derby had advertised stud fees both years and eight in the Preakness.

Ages: The average age of the eight sires at conception in the Belmont was 12.125 years with Shanghai Bobby the youngest at five and Awesome Again the oldest at 21. Three sires were only five or six when their runner was conceived, three in their early teens (12 – 14) with two in their 20s. The Kentucky Derby average age at conception was 10.16 years of age for 19 sires (youngest 4, oldest 20) and the Preakness was 10 for 12 sires (youngest 6, oldest 17).

The 10 dams with runners in the Belmont trend a little lower in age at 8.7 years old with the youngest four and the oldest 15. This is closer in line to the 20 dams with Derby runners, who had an 8.65 average (youngest 5, oldest 15) with the Preakness group the youngest with 13 mares averaging 8 years (youngest four, oldest 15). War Of Will’s dam was the oldest in each race at 15 years old when he was conceived.

Close Hatches
Dam Success: The most accomplished dam on the racetrack is Close Hatches, who also produced Tacitus as her first foal. There are two other Grade 1 winners in the field (Zaftig and My Conquestadory) with La Gran Bailadora the only other graded winner as a Grade 3 winner. Two mares were listed winners (Visions of Clarity and Flaming Heart) while three were winners. Only Joevia’s dam Peace Process (War Front) was unraced.

Visions Of Clarity (Sadler’s Wells) has proven herself to be a top broodmare outside of War Of Will with one other Grade 1 winner, two stakes winning runners from her daughters, and one other runner out of a daughter being stakes placed. Flaming Heart (Touch Gold) follows close behind with seven winners from seven runners, including two graded stakes winners and her daughter Mythical Bride (Street Cry) produced recent Grade 1 winner Vino Rosso (Curlin). The mare already has Belmont Stakes success with son Commissioner (A.P. Indy) finishing second in the 2014 edition of the race.

Auction Prices: Six of the 10 Belmont runners went through the ring at least once in their careers. Of their final auction prices, Intrepid Heart is the most expensive as a $750,000 2-year-old with Bourbon War (Tapit) the next most expensive at $525,000. The most inexpensive is $32,000 Joevia, who sold as a 2-year-old for $32,000. Three of the runners went through the ring as 2-year-olds with two selling at the Ocala Breeders Sales and War of Will selling at Arqana. Keeneland has the most graduates of any sales company with five going through their ring at least one – including three going through the ring at the September Yearling Sale.

Belmont Stakes Runners

Horse
Sire
Stud Fee 2019
 Dam
Highest Level Raced
Bourbon War
Tapit
$225,000
 My Conquestadory
G1W
Everfast
Take Charge Indy
N/A
 Awesome Surprise
Winner
Intrepid Heart
Tapit
$225,000
 Flaming Heart
Listed Winner
Joevia
Shanghai Bobby
$18,450
Peace Process
Unraced
Master Fencer
Just a Way
$35,881
 Sexy Zamurai
Winner
Sir Winston
Awesome Again
Private
 La Gran Bailadora
G3W
Spinoff
Hard Spun
$40,000
 Zaftig
G1 Winner
Tacitus
Tapit
$225,000
 Close Hatches
Champion
Tax
Arch
N/A
 Toll
Winner
War of Will
War Front
$250,000
 Visions of Clarity
Listed Winner


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